Do You Need a CRM? Signs Your Spreadsheet Has Had Its Day

We ran our property business on spreadsheets until 2005. Then the portfolio grew to the point where we were missing important events, and that is when we knew we needed a CRM. Plenty of small businesses run perfectly well on a spreadsheet, a busy inbox and the owner's memory, at least for a while. Then a customer chases a quote you thought you'd sent, or two of your team ring the same person on the same afternoon. At that point it's fair to ask: will software help? Welcome to the world of the CRM.

CRM stands for customer relationship management: an organised way of keeping track of who your customers are and what you've said to them.

What a CRM actually does

At its simplest, a CRM gives you one record per customer. Instead of details scattered across a spreadsheet, email threads and notes on your phone, customer information sits in linked records, with access controlled by role. A record usually holds:

• contact details for the business and the people you deal with there
• a history of emails, calls and meetings, with some activity logged automatically through email, calendar or phone integrations
• quotes sent and orders placed, where supported, or through integrations with your quoting and order systems
• reminders and tasks, such as a callback on Thursday or a quote to chase
• notes on what was agreed or promised

Most CRMs also show a pipeline. This sorts enquiries and potential jobs by stage, from first contact to won or lost, so you can see what's coming in and what's stuck.

A CRM won't find customers for you. It stops things falling through the gaps and makes what you already know easier to find and share.

Signs your spreadsheet has had its day

A shared spreadsheet can handle a list and simultaneous editing. Tracking conversations, ownership and follow-ups gets harder as the work grows, though. These are the signs it's being asked to do too much:

• Follow-ups get missed. Enquiries go cold because the reminder lived only in someone's head.
• Two people contact the same customer. Nobody can see who spoke to them last, which looks disorganised.
• Nobody can see what was promised. A discount, delivery date or callback was agreed on the phone, with no record.
• Knowledge walks out of the door. When someone leaves, their understanding of each customer goes with them, along with their inbox.
• Quoting is slow. Each quote means hunting through old emails for previous prices, specifications or contact names.

If these problems keep coming up, compare the cost of missed work and admin time with the cost of a CRM.

When you probably don't need one

A CRM isn't right for every business. If you sell mostly one-off purchases with few repeat customers, there may be little history worth keeping. Your till or online shop system may already record what you need.

The same applies to a one-person business with simple needs. If your client list is manageable and your follow-ups are under control, a tidy spreadsheet and a calendar may be enough. Software you don't use is just another login and another subscription.

Taking on staff is often the point where shared information starts to matter.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Your options in outline

Broadly, there are three routes.

Off-the-shelf CRM software. Well-known names include HubSpot, Zoho, Pipedrive, Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics. They vary in how simple or involved they are, and some are aimed at larger organisations. Most offer free trials or free entry plans. Pricing and features change often, so check each provider's own website and compare:

• the total cost at your intended team size
• onboarding or data import costs
• limits on storage, integrations and automation
• what support is included
• any minimum contract term
• whether two-step verification and the permissions you need are available on that plan

A CRM inside software you already use. Your accounting package, booking system, online shop or email marketing tool may already include customer records, contact history or a simple pipeline. That may be enough, and it avoids keeping the same details in two places.

Building your own. Some businesses work in ways unusual enough that a bespoke system makes sense. It's a bigger undertaking, and we cover it in a separate article on building your own business software.

What to sort out before you choose

A CRM is only as useful as the information in it and the habits of the people using it, so it pays to do some groundwork first.

1. Decide what you want to track. Write down what you actually need: contacts, enquiries, quotes, orders, renewals, service history.
2. Work out who will use it. Give each person their own account, with permissions suited to their role, and remove access promptly when someone leaves. Involve staff early, or the records won't be kept up to date.
3. Check data protection and security. Do this before importing live customer data, even into a free trial. Use dummy data until the checks below are done.
4. Clean and test your data. Remove duplicates, fix errors and delete records you no longer need. Test a small import, check fields map correctly and make someone responsible for keeping records tidy. Moving messy data across just gives you a tidier-looking mess.
5. Trial it with real work. Use it on actual enquiries for a couple of weeks. Check you can export contacts, notes, activity history and attachments in usable formats. Ask about backup and recovery too, because an export isn't a backup.

A CRM is a store of personal data, so UK GDPR applies. Think about these areas:

• Lawful basis. Contract applies only where processing is necessary for a contract with that individual, or for steps they've asked for before one. For staff at client companies, legitimate interests is often more appropriate.
• Marketing. Having someone in your CRM doesn't mean you can market to them. The email rules in PECR treat individuals, including sole traders and some partnerships, differently from companies. Carry opt-outs and suppression lists across when you migrate.
• Retention and access. Decide how long you'll keep records and how you'll delete them. Use strong passwords and two-step verification. People can ask for a copy of the data you hold about them.
• Provider terms. Where your data is stored doesn't settle things on its own. Check the provider's data processing agreement, its subprocessors, any overseas access and the safeguards for international transfers.

The ICO has practical guidance for small businesses, and the NCSC advises on securing accounts. Both update their guidance, so check their websites directly.

If your spreadsheet still does the job, there's no need to change. If customers are slipping through the cracks, a carefully set up CRM is usually a sensible next step.